Bulk shipping container

ABSTRACT

A bulk shipping package including an outer container constructed of suitable sheet material, such as corrugated paperboard, from a flat blank properly slit and scored and set up in parallelepiped form usually with the final connector joint for the adjacent end extremities of the blank at one of the vertical connectors of the package, an insert sleeve of triple wall corrugated paperboard, and a unique connector joint which provides increased strength to prevent failure of the package.

United States Patent Jones 3,643,856 5] Feb. 22, 1972 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS [54] BULK SHIPPING CONTAINER [72] Inventor: Chandler H. Jones, Memphis, Tenn.

Owens-Illinois, Inc.

Aug. 19, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 65,016

Ku chenbecker..................

[73] Assignee:

[22] Filed:

Silver.............................229/14 BL X Primary Examiner--Donald F. Norton Attorney-Alan J. Steger and E. .l. Holler [57] ABSTRACT A bulk shipping package including an outer container con- 52 U.S. Cl. .......................229/37 R, 229/14 BL, 229/23 R, 229/48 R .229/14 BL, 14 BA, 14 BW, 23 R,

structed of suitable sheet material, such as corrugated paper- [51] Int. Cl.

board, from a flat blank properly slit and scored and set up in parallelepiped form usually with the final connector joint for [58] Field of Search...........

acent end extremities of the blank at one of the vertical connectors of the package, an insert sleeve of triple wall cor- 229/37 R, 48 R, 48 SA the adj rugated paperboard, and a unique connector joint which provides increased strength to prevent failure of the package.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED FEB 2 I973 SHEET 1 BF 4 INVENTOR. CHAmDLEre H. lanes BY MT,- 3L4 i 6.3". Hub

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PATENTEDFEBZZIBTZ 3.643.856

p SHEETHUF l INVENTOR. CHAMDLEK H Jones BY W E73. HnHLN A'rroRkEVR BULK SHIPPING CONTAINER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to containers and, more particularly, it relates to a bulk package formed from corrugated paperboard which is especially well suited to hold a large quantity of granular or small particle bulk material.

The connector joint for the ends of a blank of a setup box of this general type usually has an attaching or connecting flap or flange connected at a corner fold line to one vertical wall and extending in flat overlapping relationship to another vertical wall, generally disposed at a right angle to the first wall, to which it is usually fastened by means of adhesive or in another suitable manner. There is a tendency for this type of connector joint to give way under load by tearing or slitting at the comer fold line, especially if the box is large and filled with granular or small particle bulk material which tends to cause bulging of the walls of the box and applies excessive forces to the comer.

Hence, there has been a need in the packaging industry for an economical corrugated paperboard package which incorporates sufr'icient strength to hold a bulk load of granular or small particle material without bulging or failing at its comer oint.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a bulk shipping package formed from a flat blank of corrugated paperboard which incorporates an inner sleeve of triple wall corrugated paperboard and a unique comer joint which together provide increased package strength to prevent bulging of the container or failure of the connector joint.

In general, the unique bulk package of this invention includes a standard outer container formed from a blank of corrugated paperboard which is properly slit, scored, and set up in parallelepiped form, an insert sleeve of triple wall corrugated paperboard, and a unique connector joint wherein one of the final connector joint flaps of the outer container is fastened to the inside of the insert sleeve and the other of the final connector joint flaps is fastened to the adjacent wall panel of the outer package in standard overlapping fashion.

Other objects, features, and advantages of this invention will become obvious to one skilled in the art to which it pertains by reference to the following detailed description and the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiments thereof.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a schematic perspective view of the outer container and insert sleeve which together form the unique bulk package of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the connector joint of the bulk package of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the blank which is adapted to be folded into the outer container of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the container in its flat shipping form prior to the sealing of its unique connector joint.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the bulk package of FIG. I which incorporates a separate lid member.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the blank which is adapted to be formed into the lid of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION With reference to the drawings, a box 10 is of suitable parallelepiped form as set up with a connector corner indicated generally at 12. This comer is shown as being one of the vertical corners but could be located otherwise. It is that corner where the ends of the box blank come together when the box is set up and when the blank ends are attached to retain the blank in setup condition.

The box 10 is made from a one-piece blank 14 shown in FIG. 3 which may be of suitable fibrous material, such as cor- LII rugated fiberboard, solid fiberboard, paperboard, cardboard, or similar material. In the preferred embodiments of this invention the blank 14 is formed from a good quality sheet of corrugated paperboard having two liner layers separated by a layer of corrugated medium. The blank 14 is of one-piece construction and is suitably scored and slit to provide walls 16, I8, 20, and 22 which will be the vertical walls of the box 10 when the blank 14 is set up and which are hinged together along the score lines or hinge joints indicated by the thin lines separating these wall panels. These walls have upper closure flaps 24, 26, 28, and 30 hinged respectively thereto at the indicated score lines and lower closure flaps 32, 34, 36, and 38 hinged respectively thereto at the indicated score lines. The various upper and lower closure flaps are separated from each other by means of slits 40. Each of the end extremities of blank 14 outwardly of the walls 16 and 22 is provided with an attaching or connector flap or flange indicated respectively by the numerals 42 and 44 hinged at the indicated score lines 46 and 48, respectively.

When the box 10 is set up to the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the blank 14 is folded along the fold lines between the walls l6, 18, 20, and 22, which are vertically disposed, and along the fold or hinge lines 46 and 48 of the respective connector flaps or flanges 42 and 44. The walls I6 and 22 are disposed in right angle relationship, as shown in FIG. 1, and the flange 42 is disposed at a right angle to wall 16 and, similarly, flange 44 is disposed at a right angle with wall 22.

A sleeve number 50 as shown in FIG. 1 is comprised of four equally sized wall panels 52, 54, S6, and 58 which are folded at right angles with each other and connected by score lines at each corner except the corner between panels 52 and 58 which is unconnected or open. The sleeve 50 as can be seen in FIG. 2 is preferably formed of triple wall corrugated paperboard. This sleeve 50 is inserted into the box 10 so that its open comer between walls 52 and 58 is positioned adjacent to the connector comer 12 of the box 10. It should be noted that each wall of the sleeve 50 is virtually identical in size (length and width) to its corresponding adjacent wall in the box 10 such that wall 16 is identical in overall dimension to wall 52, for example.

The unique connector comer 12 of the bulk package of this invention can best be seen by reference to FIG. 2. Connector flap 44, which is hinged to wall panel 22, is inserted through the opening between the walls 52 and 58 of sleeve 50 and is fastened to the inner surface of the sleeve wall 52. The other connector flange 42, which extends from wall I6, is bent around the outside of the connector comer I2 and fastened to the exterior surface of the box wall 22. Thus, the unique comer joint 12 of this invention combines the strength of a triple wall corrugated inner sleeve with the flexibility of a single wall outer container having single wall connector flaps.

The box 10 as shown in FIG. 1 may be closed by folding and gluing bottom closing flaps 24, 26, 28, and 30 together to form a standard four-flap container bottom. Similarly, the top of box 10 may be closed by folding and gluing top closing flaps t 32, 34, 36, and 38 together to form a sealed standard four-flap top on the box. The box 10 of FIG. 1 including sleeve 50 may be shipped in the form shown in FIG. 4 before the top and bottom closure flaps have been interlocked and sealed together. It should be noted that the box may be folded flat before the connector corner 12 is sealed closed. In FIG. 4, it can be seen that connector flap 42 on box wall 16 is positioned adjacent to the outer surface of box wall 22. Also, comer connector flap 44 is bent inwardly so as to pass through the opening betweensleeve walls 52 and 58 so as to be adjacent to the interior surface of sleeve panel 52. Once the respective corner flaps 42 and 44, as shown in FIG. 4, are attached as shown in FIG. 2, the resulting box configuration can be opened from its flat form to the parallelepiped form shown in FIG. I by folding the various wall panels on their connecting fold lines.

The box 60 and inner sleeve 62 shown in FIG. 5 are exactly like and numbered identical to the box 10 and sleeve 50 of FIG. 1 with the exception that top closure flaps 32a, 34a, 36a, and 38a of box 60 are of much smaller width than the respective flaps 32, 34, 36, and 38 of box and incapable of closing the top of box 60. Thus, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a separate lid member 64 is provided to fit over and completely close the top of the box 60. The lid 64 of FIG. 5 is formed from the blank 66 shown in FIG. 6. The blank 66 of FIG. 6 has a center panel 68 with top closing flaps 70, 72, 74, and 76 connected by suitable fold lines to its four sides. Each of the top closure flaps 70, 72, 74, and 76 has a corner closing flange 78, 80, 82, and 84 respectively connected at one end thereof. When it is desired to fold the blank 66 of FIG. 6 to form the lid 64 of FIG. 5, top closing flaps 70, 72, 74, and 76 are folded down at right angles to the top center panel 68 and, similarly, top closing flanges 78, 80, 82, and 84 are folded at right angles with respect to the top closing flaps to which they are connected. The top closing flanges 78, 80, 82, and 84 are then glued to the underlying top closing flap so that, for example, top closing flanges 78 and 84 are glued to top closing flap 76 and top closing flanges 80 and 82 are glued to top closing flap 72.

It should be noted that the alternate embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 5 are equivalent as far as the principle of this invention is concerned, and each include the unique combination of a triple-wall inner sleeve with a single-wall outer container having a corner joint as shown in FIG. 2. Whether the top flap closing means of FIG. I or the separate top closing lid of FIG. 5 are selected is merely a matter of choice.

Considerable testing of the bulk package of this invention has shown that the combination of the triple-wall inner liner with the single-wall outer container closed in the manner shown in FIG. 2 results in considerably less bulge and, as a result, much improved stacking than has been experienced in previously used bulk containers. In addition, the use of corner closure flaps of single-wall corrugated instead of the normally used double-wall corrugated results in a much improved assembly procedure as the single-wall closure flaps are considerably easier to fold into the particular configuration as taught by this invention in FIG. 2.

The particular combination of a triple-wall liner with a single-wall outer container closed in the manner shown in FIG. 2 has been found to be siftproof when such a container is filled with granular or particulate bulk material.

It should be noted further that the container of this invention is well suited to have a sheet of plastic laminated on the outer surface of the single-wall outer container to make it completely moistureproof, as well as bulge resistant and siftproof.

Thus, it can be seen that the subject invention provides a relatively simple, yet very strong, bulk package suitable for holding large quantities of granular or particulate bulk material without experiencing the characteristic bulge or corner tearing associated with previously used bulk containers.

I claim:

1. A bulk package comprising, in combination: an outer box structure formed from a wall-forming blank of material of suitable wall thickness scored to provide a series of walls integrally connected together at hinged corner joints which are spaced successively longitudinally of the blank and having free ends adapted to be connected together at a corner with two of the resulting walls at said ends disposed in angular relationship, means for connecting said walls together at said corner including relatively angularly disposed attaching flanges carried integrally by the respective walls at said comer to which they are connected by corner folds being of substantially the same thickness as said wall and extending outwardly from said folds, bottom closure flaps hinged to the lower free edges of said walls and arranged to close the lower end of said outer box structure, an inner sleeve structure laminated to the interior of said outer box structure and formed from a wall forming blank of material of wall thickness considerably greater than the wall thickness of said outer box structure, said blank forming said inner sleeve being scored to provide a series of walls integrally connected together at hinged comer oints which are spaced successively longitudinally of the blank and have free ends laminated to the interior of the free ends of said outer box structure, one of said attaching flanges integral with one of said box corner walls extending into flat contact with the interior surface of one of said inner sleeve corner walls, and the other of said attaching flanges integral with the other of said outer box structure comer walls extending into overlapping flat contact with the exterior surface of said one of said outer box corner walls to thereby close said comer.

2. A bulk package as set forth in claim 1 wherein said outer box structure further includes top closure flaps hinged to the upper free edges of said walls and arranged to close the upper end of said outer box structure.

3. A bulk package as set forth in claim 1 wherein said outer box structure is formed from single wall corrugated paperboard.

4. A bulk package as set forth in claim 3 wherein said inner sleeve structure is formed from triple wall corrugated paperboard.

5. A bulk package as set forth in claim I further including a lid structure adapted to fit over and close the upper end of said outer box structure.

6. A bulk package as set forth in claim 5 wherein said lid structure and said outer box structure are formed from singlewall corrugated paperboard.

7. A bulk package as set forth in claim 6 wherein said inner sleeve structure is formed from triple-wall corrugated paperboard. 

1. A bulk package comprising, in combination: an outer box structure formed from a wall-forming blank of material of suitable wall thickness scored to provide a series of walls integrally connected together at hinged corner joints which are spaced successively longitudinally of the blank and having free ends adapted to be connected together at a corner with two of the resulting walls at said ends disposed in angular relationship, means for connecting said walls together at said corner including relatively angularly disposed attaching flanges carried integrally by the respective walls at said corner to which they are connected by corner folds being of substantially the same thickness as said wall and extending outwardly from said folds, bottom closure flaps hinged to the lower free edges of said walls and arranged to close the lower end of said outer box structure, an inner sleeve structure laminated to the interior of said outer box structure and formed from a wall forming blank of material of wall thickness considerably greater than the wall thickness of said outer box structure, said blank forming said inner sleeve being scored to provide a series of walls integrally connected together at hinged corner joints which are spaced successively longitudinally of the blank and have free ends laminated to the interior of the free ends of said outer box structure, one of said attaching flanges integral with one of said box corner walls extending into flat contact with the interior surface of one of said inner sleeve corner walls, and the other of said attaching flanges integral with the other of said outer box structure corner walls extending into overlapping flat contact with the exterior surface of said one of said outer box corner walls to thereby close said corner.
 2. A bulk package as set forth in claim 1 wherein said outer box structure further includes top closure flaps hinged to the upper free edges of said walls and arranged to close the upper end of said outer box structure.
 3. A bulk package as set forth in claim 1 wherein said outer box structure is formed from single wall corrugated paperboard.
 4. A bulk package as set forth in claim 3 wherein said inner sleeve structure is formed from triple wall corrugated paperboard.
 5. A bulk package as set forth in claim 1 further including a lid structure adapted to fit over and close the upper end of said outer box structure.
 6. A bulk package as set forth in claim 5 wherein said lid structure and said outer box structure are formed from single-wall corrugated paperboard.
 7. A bulk package as set forth in claim 6 wherein said inner sleeve structure is formed from triple-wall corrugated paperboard. 